Chhattisgarh EC develops app to track movement of polling officials

Against the backdrop of reports of polling personnel checking into hotels and entering residences of politicians with EVMs, the Chhattisgarh Election Commission has developed an application to track its officials.

The application was shown to chief electoral officers of various states who attended a conference here in the run up to Lok Sabha polls due this summer.

The application helps streamline polling personnel management.

At the conference, Madhya Pradesh EC gave details of an app its poll machinery has developed to ensure queue-less voting experience for people with disabilities, pregnant women and women with infants.

Addressing the chief electoral officers, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora stressed on the need for extensive hands-on experience of the EVM and paper trail machines among voters as well as during the training of polling officials.

He said it helps minimise glitches and also boosts confidence among the stakeholders, an official statement said.

The primary focus of the Election Commission was on the integrity of the electoral roll, meticulous planning for elections, EVM and paper trail machine assessment and training and extensive voter outreach.

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa emphasized on the need to coordinate with bordering states as well as with other agencies to give more teeth to the expenditure monitoring mechanisms to prevent misuse of money power.

During the recent state election in five states, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, there were reports of negligent behaviour on the part of polling officials involving EVMs.